Wilderness.org - cultural artifactshttp://wilderness.org/taxonomy/term/1929
enTwo ways of life collide in Wonder Valleyhttp://wilderness.org/recent-coverage/two-ways-life-collide-wonder-valley
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-date-published field-type-datetime field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><span class="date-display-single" property="dc:date" datatype="xsd:dateTime" content="2010-01-05T10:24:32-05:00">Jan 5, 2010</span></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-link field-type-link-field field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><a href="http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-outthere5-2010jan05,0,4658814.story" target="_blank">David Kelly, Los Angeles Times</a></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>Excerpts:</p>
<p>&quot;I loved the peace and quiet. I loved the tremendous sky. I loved the heat in the summer,&quot; (Eric Hamburg) enthused about his remote getaway outside Twentynine Palms. &quot;It was like a safety valve for me.&quot;</p>
<p>But he quickly became aware of another way of life, one far less conducive to quiet meditation. &quot;You see them buzzing around all the time and they just come closer and closer,&quot; he said of the men, women and children who blast joyously through the desert on rattling dirt bikes and quad runners.Things came to a head on Thanksgiving weekend when critics said marauding riders deliberately overran a historic site that they'd worked hard to restore.</p>
<p>&quot;We are crestfallen because of all the efforts and energy we put into this and in a matter of two days off-roaders destroyed it,&quot; said Phil Klasky, president of Community ORV Watch, a group dedicated to curbing illegal off-roading. &quot;It's a culture clash.&quot;</p>
<p>Ray Pessa, president of Friends of Giant Rock, which fights for off-roader rights, said law-abiding riders shouldn't be penalized because others flout the rules.</p>
<p>&hellip;&quot;As long as people stay on existing trails, then it's OK,&quot; said Mickey Quillman, BLM chief of resources. &quot;It's just the fact that they drove off road into the dunes where there are fringe-toed lizards and animal burrows. It's a limited-use area. You can drive cars and motorcycles on the roads, but you can't take vehicles into the desert -- and people ignore it pretty regularly.&quot;<br />&nbsp;</p>
</div></div></div>Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:24:32 +0000102747 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/recent-coverage/two-ways-life-collide-wonder-valley#commentsRecent Utah looting underscores need for artifact protectionshttp://wilderness.org/blog/recent-utah-looting-underscores-need-artifact-protections
<div class="field-group-format group_meta field-group-div group-meta speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-post-date field-type-ds field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even">Jul 10, 2009</div></div></div></div><div class="field-group-format group_image field-group-div group-image speed-fast effect-none"><div class="field field-name-field-content-image field-type-image field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><img typeof="foaf:Image" src="http://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/styles/blog_full/public/legacy/profiler/CanyonsoftheAncientsRuins-Colorado-BLM.gif?itok=8xlXO8m1" alt="" title="Canyons of the Ancients cultural site in the Four Corners area, where less than 1/5 of land has been inventoried. Courtesy BLM." /></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-video field-type-file field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"></div></div><div class="field field-name-media-description field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p>Canyons of the Ancients cultural site in the Four Corners area, where less than 1/5 of land has been inventoried. Courtesy BLM.</p>
</div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-credit field-type-text-long field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"></div></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-hidden"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even" property="content:encoded"> <p>In the Four Corners region, among the rugged mountains, mesas and deep canyons of the high desert there are pockets of desert wilderness where the soil is the only thing standing between travelers and a wealth of ancient Pueblo artifacts.</p>
<p>In these lands, the ancient Pueblo people once settled villages with hundreds of family farms. Today, the area is rich with evidence of their small communities, but it&rsquo;s also a hotbed for those looking to profit from illegally selling this priceless cultural heritage.</p>
<p>In fact, last month the FBI and the Department of the Interior arrested a circle of nearly two dozen people in Utah on charges of theft of government and Indian property and illegally trafficking artifacts. While controversy has arisen over the alleged overuse of force in the arrests, the case and its resulting widespread media reports underscore the vulnerability of the region.</p>
<p>The artifacts in the alleged theft cases include ancient Pueblo pottery, created centuries ago, as well as ceremonial masks and a buffalo headdress, according to the Department of the Interior.</p>
<p>Today, the descendants of the ancient Pueblo speak of their ancestors with great respect and believe that their spirits still live in the ancient pueblos. Stories about the lives they lived can still be found in the pottery, ancient masks, and stone tools they left behind.</p>
<p>These stories are lost forever when looters remove priceless artifacts and sell them, which is why it&rsquo;s so important that these lands, and others like them, receive the protections they deserve.</p>
<p>In fact, cultural treasures throughout the West have not yet received the full measure of protection they merit, but a new federal land conservation system called the National Landscape Conservation System offers hope.</p>
<p>&ldquo;Recently Congress created this spectacular conservation system of incredibly diverse lands, providing an incredible opportunity to conserve, protect, and restore both our natural and cultural treasures, but additional resources are needed to bolster enforcement efforts,&rdquo; said Kevin Mack, Wilderness Society Campaign Director for the National Landscape Conservation System.</p>
<p>The National Landscape Conservation System includes some of the most significant cultural resources on public lands in the United States, from prehistoric ancient pueblos to the remains of the western frontier era migration and gold rush.</p>
<p><img height="197" width="300" src="/sites/default/files/legacy/userfiles/CanyonsoftheAncientsPaintedHandPueblo-Colorado-BLM.gif" alt="Painted Hand Pueblo within Canyons of the Ancients in the Four Corners area. Courtesy BLM." />Some national monuments managed by the BLM have thousands of recorded cultural sites. Yet many Conservation System units have recorded only a fraction of their cultural sites.</p>
<p>In Colorado&rsquo;s Canyons of the Ancients National Monument, known to have the greatest density of cultural sites in America, just 18 percent of the Monument&rsquo;s 164,000 acres have been inventoried.</p>
<p>The Conservation System represents only 10 percent of the land the Bureau of Land Management administers, but it accounts for an incredible amount of the known cultural resources managed by the agency. Adequate funding of the Conservation System is essential if these vital elements of our past are to be conserved for future generations.</p>
<p>The Wilderness Society is working with the Obama administration and Congress to ensure these treasured landscapes receive the attention they deserve, including being adequately funded to conserve, protect and restore the natural and cultural treasures these landscapes contain.</p>
<p>&ldquo;There is an historic opportunity with the new Conservation System to shape the way our public lands are managed, including providing essential on the ground protection to the rich natural and cultural resources that are present in so many of these landscapes. The Obama administration is positioned to leave a legacy for future generations and has the opportunity to set a high bar for the conservation of our public lands,&rdquo; Mack explained.</p>
<p>There is a Pueblo blessing in which one line states: &ldquo;Hold on to what is good, even if it is a handful of earth.&rdquo;</p>
<p>We would do well to follow this advice and choose to make the preservation of our rich cultural heritage a priority. </p>
<p>Click here to learn more about The Wilderness Society&rsquo;s vision for the National Landscape Conservation System.</p>
<p><strong><span style="font-size: smaller;">photos:</span></strong><span style="font-size: smaller;"> <br />Canyons of the Ancients cultural site in the Four Corners area, where less than 1/5th of land has been inventoried. Courtesy BLM.<br />Painted Hand Pueblo within Canyons of the Ancients in the Four Corners area. Courtesy BLM.<br /></span></p>
</div></div></div>Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:41:10 +0000102106 at http://wilderness.orghttp://wilderness.org/blog/recent-utah-looting-underscores-need-artifact-protections#comments